Hello I know this is a double post under Finished work. But I wanted to get some feed back.

Thanks guys.

http://www.vimeo.com/2077671

---Anthony

EricDLegare

11 November 2008, 12:44 PM

- Length, 11minutes is unacceptable, when I review reels and see a reel that's like 5+ mins, I don't feel like watching the reel at all. You have to understand that you reel's purpose is to sell your skill to the potential employer, not show all you've done in your life before today. You should only show the best things, the impressive parts. ( For instance, for everything you are showing in the reel you should ask yourself "What skill am I showing here?", for instance, when you show the giraffe, you show an attribute ( I think thats how they are called in Maya :S ) that rotate the ears, what is that showing as skill ? Your skill to use the "connection editor " ( Not sure about the Maya name either ;) ), but you understand, it only shows that you can connect an attribute to a rotation, which is useless because almost everyone can do that.

- Presentation, most of the time in your reel, the Maya interface is useless, I would strongly advise to crop it to the viewport so we can focus more on the rig. TDs are technical guys, but we must show some artistic concerns, like composition. You should try to make everything as clear as possible. For instance, in the Ork Rig, you kept the GRID DISPLAYED ! Why ? It's only making things harder to read and could make the employer thinks that you don't care about details.

- Presentation again, you should record your rig demonstration that shows that you know what you are doing and want to show, for instance, when you move the giraffe's neck ctrl and the neck flips, well, your rig shouldn't allow that, but even if i does, at least don't show that in your reel !

- Presentation yet again, don't thank your mom in your reel, you should be more professional, your reel is your first business contact, it's your only chance to make a good impression on the potential employer.

- Overall it's sad for your presentation quality because the rigs themselves don't look too bad and could be good in a more well presented reel.

So, unless you did that reel just to show your friends, I would strongly advise that you rework the presentation before sending it to a potential employer.

Sorry if I sound rude, it's not my intention, I just want to help :D

*Sorry for my English :P

StSabath

11 November 2008, 12:54 PM

now that is some good constructive critisism!..
personally im also starting on a reel (i dont want to hijack this topic though)
and i was wondering,Eric could you send me a pm with your demoreel judging experiences,the ones you think are very important to remember,when making a demoreel?
Doesnt have to be a large one ,just a couple of pointers in addition to the above..
Thanks in advance ,if you have the time.....

AnthonyThompson

11 November 2008, 01:07 PM

No you werent rude at all and thank you soo much for the feed back

EricDLegare

11 November 2008, 01:12 PM

Eric could you send me a pm with your demoreel judging experiences,the ones you think are very important to remember,when making a demoreel?

Have you checked http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=2&t=69427 if you look at the bottom of the post, there is a list of useful DemoReel-related threads in which you could find a lot useful information about what to do and what not to do.

I hope it helps

ErikSvensson

11 November 2008, 02:21 PM

Eric, that's some seriously good feedback you sent off here. I can just agree with all you said and beg the thread creator to take all the advices that you gave, it will be so much better! :)

Erik

StSabath

11 November 2008, 02:30 PM

Have you checked http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=2&t=69427 if you look at the bottom of the post, there is a list of useful DemoReel-related threads in which you could find a lot useful information about what to do and what not to do.

I hope it helps

Exactomundo my friend,thx for the heads up...!

AnthonyThompson

11 November 2008, 02:41 AM

I'm fixing the reel now thanks you guys so much for the feed back.

Buexe

11 November 2008, 09:05 AM

I agree with all comments from EricDLegare. An additional advice, show rather key functionality and not all there is, this helps keeping the viewer`s focus on the interesting stuff. Another note, why not hide all UI stuff that is unnecessary for video capture? Like the shelves, time slider, Help line etc.. Which video capture software did you use btw?

Good luck and keep it coming, you are definitely on the right track! :cool:
buexe

AnthonyThompson

11 November 2008, 09:18 AM

Which video capture software did you use btw?

I used (screen flow) on the mac to capture and I used (I movie) to put it together.

AnthonyThompson

11 November 2008, 05:29 AM

Hey Guys

Thanks for all the great feedback. I have made the changes you guys mentioned, does it look much better now?

http://www.vimeo.com/2077671

archanex

11 November 2008, 05:45 AM

still way too long and too slow paced. You should shoot for your reel to be 1-2 minutes of your BEST STUFF. All of the video in your reel looks like you're showing it at real time. Try doubling the speed in your favorite video editing software and it'll move things along better.
Also, your music puts me to sleep. Lastly, make sure you show good deformations, I'm looking at the tail on that giraffe in particular

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